On Humanure, the book

Green Bean asked her readers to pick up a book this month and give it a read. Despite the wealth of information that can be gleaned through blogs and articles on the Internet, sometimes sitting down with a good book can completely change how you view the world. I have found, too, that reading is a good way to make myself slow down so I was happy to take her up on the challenge.

Despite the wealth of information on Joseph Jenkins' Humanure website, I wanted to sit down with the book. The local library had it, so I was able to do this for free. If your library does not have it, you can download the book for free from his website. Jenkins is obviously pretty dedicated to his mission of convincing folks that humanure is the proper way to deal with an unavoidable part of daily life.

Because there is so much information available on his site for you to peruse, I am only going to hit the highlights of this book. Even if you don't decide to take up composting your own manure now, perhaps you will remember what you've read at some point in the future if facing different circumstances, such as a natural disaster that shuts off normal services for a period of time.

The book starts off by pointing out some of the problems with our current method of disposing excretions from the human body. There is a limited amount of drinking water on the planet, yet we are using vast quantities of it to carry away materials considered as waste. Additional resources are used to carry it to a treatment center which doesn't necessarily do that great a job of 'cleaning it up'. The current system may result in pollution and contamination when disposing of the sewage sludge.

The biggest problem, however, is the waste of resources. Just like other animal manures, human manure contains the potential to be a great fertilizer if probably handled. Human wastes are already used in many poor parts of the world, especially since fancy sewage systems are generally unaffordable. Raw wastes may be applied directly to fields, where they return some of their nutrients to the soil.

Unfortunately, raw human excrement can also transmit disease pathogens and worms. That's where the composting part comes in. In a properly maintained thermophilic (hot) compost system, pathogens and worms are quickly killed. Toxic chemicals are even degraded, although PCBs seem to be resistant. The composting process also enhances the quality of the materials for growing gardens. This kind of composting system can even handle meat and dairy product discards from the kitchen. While he doesn't do it, Jenkins asserts that composting dog waste in the pile would be safe.

The nice thing about setting up a humanure composting system is that it's accessible to just about anyone. The cost is low and the process is not difficult. The website has several photo galleries showing what many people have done. A couple of 5 gallon buckets, a seat, and some cover material will get you started in the house. Prime the bucket with a layer of cover material. After each deposit - liquid or solid - cover thoroughly with the cover material to prevent odors and flies. Empty the bucket when full. For the collection bucket, the cover material should be small. Suggestions include peat moss, rice hulls, decomposing sawdust, etc. Avoid kiln-dried or sawdust or that from pressure-treated wood.

For the compost piles, set up three bins. They can be slapped together with pallets or scrap wood. Start with a nice bed of absorbent plant material such as leaves, grass trimmings, straw, etc. Each time the bucket is emptied onto the pile, cover the desposit with more coarse cover material. This adds important carbon to the compost as well as keeping odor and pests from becoming a problem. Wash out the bucket and pour the water on the pile. Add all kitchen scraps and yard waste to the same bin. There's no need to maintain separate compost piles. Keep the pile level rather than mounding up in the middle, with a pitchfork or rake dedicated to compost use only.

It takes Jenkins' family a year to fill one compost bin. He states that most people have one bowel movement per day, which helps in determining how much cover material is needed for the inside collection buckets and outside compost bin. Since my sweetie and I eat a high fiber plant-based diet, I suspect we could fill up a bin in the same amount of time as his family of four. Once the bin is full, it is topped off with a nice thick layer of cover material and left to sit for one year. This aging process assures the death of all remaining pathogens and worms. Keep the cover materials in the middle bin and switch to filling up the remaining bin. By the time it's full, the first bin will be ready for use in the garden.

The book gives temperature recommendations for the compost pile and the website even sells compost thermometers. As the pile is built up, the thermophilic action will occur in the top portions of the pile. The lower parts will gradually cool off, allowing microorganisms and critters to come in and continue breaking down the plant materials. Turning the compost will interfere with this process so he recommends just leaving it be. I like this because turning compost is a lot of work. If the lazy way to do it is better anyway, everybody wins!

For anyone that really wants to create a more sustainable property and reduce waste, I'd highly recommend the book. What better way to close the loop than to eat the food you've grown, collect the waste materials your body discards, compost them with your food scraps, and use them to grow more food?